Musician Richey Manic has now been pronounced “presumably dead,” after having apparently committed suicide in 1995. His car was found abandoned next to a famous suicide site, though there were numerous unconfirmed sightings of him around the world in the years that followed. Personally, I’m pretty sure he successfully faked his own death, especially based on his behavior before his death (withdrawing thousands of pounds from his bank account).
Porn Star Hyapatia Lee apparently faked her own death around 1998, at least according to Wikipedia and the IMDb.
Solid necro after 6 years, I admit, but I recently read the Wikipedia page about Aimee Semple McPherson and remembered this column.
I didn’t do comprehensive check of the information on Wikipedia, but it seems like Cecil wrote about the tabloid version and not what really happened. It struck me enough to find the column, create an account, and come here to post it.
Since this has been revived, there is strong suspicion that Gerald Cotton faked his own death after absconding with (or simply spending) over $100 million in crypto-currency.
Peter the Painter was the (?legendary) leader of the revolutionaries involved in the Siege of Sidney Street in London in 1911, but seemingly disappeared. It was rumoured that he later became one of the Soviet NKVD’s murderous organisers. Certainly his supposed cousin was, but there were so many aliases and cover names in use, it’s by no means clear who he was or what happened to him. But he - or his legend- certainly made him a celebrity at the time , and for long after.